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Mexican meeting celebrates advances, identifies challenges
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Enrique Graue Weichers, MD, was named president of the Mexican Council of Ophthalmology during a conference this week in Veracruz. |
VERACRUZ, Mexico – The Mexican Congress of Ophthalmology got under way in this sunny port city this weekend with record-breaking attendance, an intense scientific program and no shortage of camaraderie among an estimated 2,000 attendees.
On Saturday evening, it seemed no one wanted to miss the inauguration ceremony of the biannual congress, featuring a patriotic flag ceremony and remarks from officials of the Mexican Society of Ophthalmology (SMO). The speakers highlighted the important role ophthalmology plays in the scientific community, in Mexico and throughout the world.
“Ophthalmology is more than a science. It is the science that gives sense to life,” said Raul Suarez Sanchez, MD, president of the SMO, in his opening comments.
Dr. Sanchez was joined by Enrique Graue Weichers, MD, the new president of the SMO’s sister organization, the Mexican Council of Ophthalmology. Dr. Graue, who is also an associate medical editor of Ocular Surgery News Latin America Edition, noted how far Mexican ophthalmology has come in recent decades, in part due to increasingly rigorous standards for continuing education and certification. Dr. Graue noted that the future is full of challenges, however, particularly in shaping a unified curriculum for ophthalmology students in the country.
Dr. Graue was officially named president of the Mexican Council of Ophthalmology at this event. He will also assume presidency of the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology (PAAO) next year. His predecessor at the PAAO, outgoing president J. Bronwyn Bateman, MD, came from the United States to be an honored guest at the inauguration.
Congress President Jorge Nicolas Chantiri Perez, MD, said in an interview that the meeting’s high attendance “has broken the SMO’s record.”
He said the focus this year is distributed among the major subspecialties and the latest technological advances that are already being employed both in private clinics and hospitals throughout the country.
The inauguration ceremony capped the subspecialty day of the meeting, which runs until August 11.